According to the veteran promoter, there are other ancillary issues that have to be dealt with other than the animosity between the two rival companies. “You have to understand; this is not just bombast. There are various elements in doing a co-promotion with them that are irreconcilable. Number one, [Golden Boy has] a different major sponsor for Mares - they have Corona; we have Tecate. They have a different television network in Mexico. They have Televisa; we have TV Azteca.”

If there is one thing Arum and Schaefer do see eye-to-eye on (and yes, they actually agree on something), it’s that there are legitimate issues regarding sponsors and networks. “Bob is right there,” Schaefer conceded, “but that’s why I think when you do a purse bid, then all those issues go away, because, ‘Hey, sorry, we don’t control it,’ and vice-versa. So it is what it is. So Bob can go to his partners and we can go to our partners and everybody is going to have to sharpen their pencils and based on those numbers, we would then participate in such a purse bid. Whoever has more money on the table will obviously be able to pay more for the fight.”

I'm not sure how going to the highest bidder solves the problem though. If they have contracts with different networks and sponsors, it doesn't matter if someone offers more money. The contracts would still be binding.